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In honour of Amy Winehouse, this post is dedicated to that fantastically big, teased and lacquered hair that none but her could pull off quite the same in modern times (though, some would argue she didn’t quite pull it off). Yes, we’re talking about that crazy mass of hair atop her head – the beehive.

Most popular in the 1960s, the beehive was created by Margaret Vinci Heldt in Chicago. An award winning stylist and salon owner, Heldt was asked in 1960 by Modern Beauty Salon magazine to design a new hairstyle that would reflect the coming decade. It originated as a variation of the pageboy and bouffant styles that were elaborately teased and hairsprayed and was also given the name B-52, as it resembled the bulbous nose of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. The style has been modeled by Dusty Springfield, The Ronettes and Joanna Lumley (in Absolutely Fabulous) amongst others, and has made its way back into fashion in Chanel shows and on modern celebrities.

Here’s a mix of retro and modern beehives that we can’t get enough of. Are you bold enough to fashion this ‘do for a special occasion, or even everyday?

There’s just something special about beautiful, wavy hair – almost something better about it.

It’s not straight… it’s not curly… it offers the best of both worlds: extra fullness and bounce, but a polished look as well. You can dress waves up, or go beachy casual for weekends or day-to-day.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. With naturally wavy hair comes frizz. And if you have straight hair, it’s too much effort. So how can you get effortless, envy-worthy, shiny waves?

If you already have naturally wavy hair and just want to enhance it all you need are a few great hair products, a blow dryer and a diffuser. Techniques for the perfect wave vary slightly from person to person, but here are a few tips from our stylists!

Debra and Lan, Associates at Haartek, share their secrets for full waves:

3) Apply mousse to wet hair – make sure you use enough product or you won’t have the desired effect – and comb through evenly. Kevin Murphy’s Body Builder is a great mousse. Debra prefers a curl enhancing product like KMS Curl Up Creme.

4) Lean forward and blot with a towel again.

5) Dry with a diffuser, going section by section, spending 30 seconds on each, then repeating until you get the wave you want.

Both Debra and Lan agree that in order to get great waves, the less you touch and disturb your hair, the better!

And to keep your waves going throughout the day, it’s important to refresh your hair with a revitalizing product or even with just water, according to Susan, a Director at Haartek. She is a big believer in wetting your hands with water and running your fingers through the waves to keep down the frizz. “It also helps to reactivate the existing product that’s in there. Schwarzkopf’s Moisture Kick Conditioning Spray and Eufora’s Curl ‘N Spray Revitalizer are great as well,” she says.

If you want that beachy texture, products like Kevin Murphy’s Hair Resort and KMS Sea Salt Spray are great to use before diffusing in addition to a mousse for a messier look.

This is all well and good if you have a natural wave to enhance, but what if you want volume and wave for the day after washing or if you have straight hair? Associate Carla demonstrates on how to get the look with a flat iron.

So don’t be a slave to flat, straight hair. Embrace any wave you have and enhance it for the summer. If you can’t actually be sitting at the beach with a soft breeze blowing through your ocean tousled hair, at least you can look like it!

Everyone who has hair on their pretty little heads (even those with only a few left) has a certain ritual that they go through with their hair. Granted, some have more lengthy rituals than others (I am certainly guilty of that), but regardless of how long it takes, that ritual still exists. Even my boyfriend who doesn’t care about his hair has one – you can’t escape it.

Some are lucky enough to have just wash- or wake-up- and go hair, while others spend hours drying, straightening or curling theirs. Some just don’t care and some care too much. But try telling someone that their ritual is wrong and there may be trouble. Even stylists can tell a client not to wash their hair and flatiron it everyday (guilty…again) until they are blue in the face, but a person’s relationship with their hair can be so personal that they can’t let go of the ritual – “How can I try something different when they don’t know my hair like I do?” You know the old joke, “I’m very attached to my hair…” Ha ha.

However, as an offender myself, I can tell you this: as much as we know our hair the best, our stylists DO have valuable tips that can make our lives easier. For example, a tip from one of our fearless leaders, Cosimo: Always style the difficult side of your hair first and work from the bottom up. Why you ask? If you do the easy side first, you may be too rushed or tired by the time you get to the difficult side and frankly, it ends up looking like crap. Also, combing your hair from the ends up is not only less painful, but causes less breakage than struggling through knots from the top down.

But hair rituals aren’t only about routine and the best way to care for your hair – it’s also about those times when you’re getting ready to go out and you have fun with your hair.

Personally, when I’m getting ready for a night on the town, I like to turn the music way up (to the chagrin of my neighbours, I presume) while I flatiron or curl my hair. I might sing along a bit. And dance too. Maybe.

So this is what I want to know: what are your special hair routines or rituals? How do you have fun while doing your hair?